Escape Clause
by willynilly23
Summary: A very AU ending to 4X06 inspired by Epona3 (and she doesn't even know it yet).
1. Chapter 1

Authors: This is a total AU ending to episode 4X6 inspired by a line in Epona3's fic Revelations (Chapter 2). It goes AU during the final meeting between Rossabi and Annie and would kind of have to be the end of the series….and it has spiraled out of control, if you guys like it it could be multi-chaptered.

"Annie, come in and sit down," Agent Rossabi looked grim.

"Let me say something first," Annie was flustered and terrified.

"Just come in and sit down," he nodded to a rolling chair beside his desk.

She sat and folded her hands in her lap like a chastised school girl.

"You may be a complete and utter pain in the ass Walker, but I don't peg you for a cold blooded killer. I don't want to know the story, you spooks have plenty of stories and I don't want to know any of them. I am giving you a choice," his voice was quiet and calm in the cool room.

Annie didn't dare speak she just nodded her head.

"You turn yourself in. I can work a self-defense angle, we can try to plea bargain, but the death of a high ranking CIA lawyer isn't going to be hidden in the press, you will lose your covert status and anyone who helped you will be subject to the same," he bit his lip and watched her eyes blink furiously.

"You said there was a ….choice," she choked on the last word.

"Disappear and I'll make sure no one else is implicated. I'll give you 24 hours. Walk in here by 5:00 pm tomorrow or disappear. I am turning the report in tomorrow at 5:00," he slid the folder towards her.

She opened it and there on the first page was her photo, her driver's license photo of all things, clipped to a sheet of what she could only assume were DNA results.

"Thank you," she said quietly and contritely.

***555***

Annie got all the way to Auggie's and up the stairs before she broke down. Once she started crying though she couldn't stop. Auggie made his way across the room and down to the floor where he gathered her in his arms.

"Sshhh, sshhh," he repeated over and over, "what happened?"

Auggie assumed whatever happened was bad, but here she was in his apartment and not a federal jail.

"Is this place clean?" she whispered.

"You mean have I vacuumed recently?" he furrowed his brow.

She shot him a look and for once was annoyed he couldn't see her reaction, so she pinched him instead.

"Yes, recently swept in fact," he confirmed.

Annie laid out the offer Rossabi made earlier.

"Where do you want to go?" Auggie decided for her as he got to his feet and grabbed his laptop.

"I don't know, I hadn't decided….I almost made this decision once before and I couldn't. I couldn't leave Dani and the girls….and you, but Joan is pregnant and if there is a trial both she and you would be implicated…" she couldn't keep the tears from streaming down her face.

"Well this time you only have to worry about Dani and the girls and once we're settled we'll find a way to let them know you're safe," Auggie was babbling and typing a mile a minute, but Annie was stuck back on the first point.

"You'd come with me?" she said in awe.

"Of course," he stopped typing and it was suddenly silent.

"Auggie, I couldn't ask you to give up everything, to just leave," she was speechless.

"I told you the night it happened that I was not going to let you hang out on your own on this, and I meant no matter what," he turned on the stool and she made her way between his legs to wrap herself around him.

"We've only been together a month Auggie," she laughed mirthlessly.

"Have we? It seems to me we have been together forever, or at least for the past 3 years. The other night when you referenced the first day we met it all flooded back at me, every time we talked or laughed or touched or conspired for the past 3 years. I love you Annie and I won't let you walk away from me," he found her face with his hand, he wiped the tears from her cheek.

"How do we do this? I know how to go underground short term, have never really thought about it as a long term option."

"My first question still stands, where do you want to go?"

"Remote tropical island too predictable?" she smiled.

"Not if we find the right one. There are islands that aren't even on maps where a couple thousand dollars can buy you a house with a coconut tree."

"I have access to $50,000 and obviously we have clean passports and fire power," she stepped out of his arms and began pacing.

"Money won't be a problem and neither will transport, I can have a private plane ready to go with 2 hours notice," Auggie shook his head.

"Ever? Money won't be a problem ever" Annie queried.

"Well we might have to find part time work eventually, but I think we can live pretty well for quite a while," he shrugged.

"How rich are you Auggie?" she teased.

"Rich enough to keep us in coconuts for a while," he smiled.

***555***

Annie opened the burner phone Auggie had in the safe. She dialed Danielle's cell and really hoped her sister answered.

"Hello?"

"Dani it's me," Annie was vibrating with anxiety.

"Hey, I didn't recognize the number," her sister sounded so happy and care free.

"I need you to promise me something. When we hang up from this call you will destroy your cell phone, cut the SIM card up and destroy it, do you understand?"

"Yes," Danielle said very solemnly.

"I have to leave DC, for a very long time. You are going to hear in the news about some terrible things I did, it is not the whole story and I am being given a chance to get away, to make it right."

"Annie, you are scaring me," Danielle was glad to be alone in the house.

"I don't want to scare you, I just want you to know that I am safe and not alone. It may be a long time before you hear from me again and that is the hardest thing about all of this. I love you Dani and I love the girls so much, please try to keep any of the news from them. Tell them I am fine and I will reach out again when I can."

"You're not alone?" Danielle confirmed.

"I am not alone," Annie looked over at Auggie still working on the computer.

"I love you Annie.'

"I love you too, remember what I said, destroy the phone," and with that Annie hung up.

"You OK?" Auggie finally said when there was no indication Annie had even taken a breath since she hung up.

"No," she said honestly.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

Escape Clause Part 2

Read Notes on part 1 if you missed them. Also, I may be way too emotionally attached to these characters because this is proving very difficult to write….like they are really leaving.

***555***

Auggie stood up and moved towards her, took the burner phone out of her hand and pulled her close. He had just stroked his hand down her hair when his computer squawked, startling them both.

"Sorry," he whispered and pulled away.

Annie kept her eyes closed and listened to the rhythmic clicking of computer keys.

"OK, we are all set. 11:00 am tomorrow, a small airfield in West Virginia," Auggie informed and Annie looked up sharply.

"Already?" she was shocked.

"I work fast," he shrugged.

"Have you done this before?"

"No, but I always had a plan in the back of my mind. Before Iraq I worked on the edge, even more than you, the mission with Teo wasn't the only borderline shady thing I did in the name of the Agency. I always had a plan."

"Where?"

"We'll get to New Zealand, I have a friend there and then on to Niue. It is a tiny island about 1500 miles off the coast, less than 2000 people, but a rising tourism market, we won't stand out too much. We'll stay in a hotel at first, establish an identity and then just decide to stay," it sounded so easy.

"We need to tell Joan," Annie realized.

"Yeah," Auggie dreaded another clandestine meeting in an underpass.

Annie took the burner phone and called Joan. Using an established protocol she requested a meet and Joan agreed.

"Thirty minutes," Annie announced as she snapped the phone shut.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"No," she laughed, shuddering at the thought of food.

"Wanna make out?" he offered.

"Always," she smiled and slipped into his embrace again.

Honestly she just wanted to hold him and feel his heartbeat and his breath on her skin., but soon she felt his lips against her ear and she turned into the kiss. It was a life affirming kiss, a covenant sealing kiss, it was the kind of kiss she imagined at the end of a wedding ceremony, full of forever.

"I love you," she dragged her mouth from his and the words were ragged and full of emotion.

"We're going to be safe Annie and happy," he promised.

"And alone Auggie, what about your family?"

"To say I never really fit in with my family is an understatement. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen any of them since my accident," he ran his hands over his face.

"How did I not know that?" she asked curiously.

"It's never come up."

"Well you'll certainly miss Barber," she teased.

"You're feeling better," he grinned.

"I'm running away with a sexy blind guy, the idea is growing on me," she stole another kiss.

***555***

Joan had indicated a different meeting spot than their last; Annie had to agree it was best to mix them up.

"What happened? Now Rossabi isn't answering MY calls and I prefer it the other way around," Joan began.

"He knows and he is giving me an out," Annie said quietly.

"A deal?"

"24 hours"

"You're going dark," it wasn't a question.

Joan's eyes flicked from Annie to the man who was rubbing her back.

"Both of you," Joan sighed.

"We're sorry to leave you, with Henry still lurking, but Joan if I turn myself in or get picked up, it all comes out: me, you and Auggie go to jail."

"Do you need anything?" Joan asked absently rubbing the tiny baby bump Annie just noticed.

"No, we're good. Keep an eye on Annie's sister?" Auggie asked.

"Of course," Joan nodded having already assumed that.

"Good luck Joan, I really hope your little family is happy," Annie found herself choked with tears again.

"Thank you Annie," Joan nodded swiftly trying to fight back her own tears.

"And you," Joan turned to Auggie.

"I can't thank you enough, for everything Joan," Auggie let a small smile slip.

"I will miss you both, more than I think I even realize. I will do everything I can from this end to keep you safe and you know how to reach me if you are ever in trouble. Take care of each other," she smiled and was gone before she let her emotions slip further.

"Wow, that was harder than I imagined," Annie snuck her hands under Auggie's jacket and pulled him close.

He just nodded against her head.

***555***

"You want take out?" he tried offering food again as they walked back to his apartment.

"We should probably eat the food in your apartment," she pointed out.

"Fair point, but Joan will make sure a cleaning crew hits my place" he agreed.

Luckily Annie's place was mostly packed up any way, awaiting the inevitable sale, she hadn't slept there in a month, no one would notice her absence from the neighborhood.

Annie made omelets and toast, breakfast for dinner always made her feel like a kid. They ate quietly, offering reminders about things as they occurred to them.

"Don't forget your braille label maker, we might not be able to find one of those where we're going," Annie thought.

"Good idea," he nodded.

"What about Henry?" Annie asked suddenly.

"We're not bringing Henry," Auggie scoffed and stood up to clear their plates.

"No kidding, I mean we won't just be running from the law, we're running from Henry too. He won't take lightly my just deserting him," Annie was pacing again.

"Where we are going even Henry Wilcox won't find us. Think of it as a long term, very remote, vacation. Imagine endless days and nights alone, no missions, no late night phone calls, no phone calls of any kind, no paper work, no meetings. Just me and you and the smell of the ocean and the sound of sea birds," Auggie painted a picture Annie could agree sounded idyllic.

"I was really growing fond of this place," Annie said as she moved around the apartment.

"It's just an apartment," Auggie countered.

"So maybe I was really growing fond of you," she grinned and made her way back to him.

When she kissed him this time there was no questioning her intentions. Her tongue demanded entrance to his mouth and her hands found the hem of his shirt at the same time.

"I am very fond of you too Miss Walker," he murmured against her ear.

They spent the entire night in each other's arms. Just when they were about to fall asleep one of them would reach out a hand, or a foot and spark another flurry of desire. Around 3:00 am Annie encouraged Auggie into the shower, he looked sleepy, but happy.

"How long?" she finally asked the one question that she feared the most.

"We should be completely dark for 1 year. If nothing happens in that year we can try to establish a protocol with Joan or Eyal or someone we trust," he answered as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair.

"We're gonna be OK," it was a statement that sounded an awful lot like a question.

"We're gonna be fine."

"Last time I even considered this I got shot and Simon died," she pointed out.

"I know," he kissed her, but said nothing more.

They got dressed in comfortable clothes and under the cover of darkness packed Auggie's things in her car. They drove to Georgetown where Annie dug out her summer clothes and assembled some personal belongings. She couldn't bring photos, but a few hand drawn pictures from the girls couldn't identify her.

She got a little panicky and started cramming books in her bag.

"What are we going to do for a whole year?" her workaholic mind couldn't conceive of it.

Auggie just arched his eye brow.

"Besides that!" she swatted at him.

"I don't know Miss Walker, do you have any hobbies?"

"Do I seem like the kind of girl that has hobbies?"

"Well this will be the perfect time to cultivate some," he grinned.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

Escape Clause Part 3

Author's Note: Thanks so much for the virtual love on this, glad you like it. I am kind of obsessed with it.

Annie didn't dawdle in her guest house, the longer she lingered the more doubt might creep in. She packed one suit case full of clothes and toiletries (who knew when she would have access to good hair care products again, or need them). In a back pack she shoved several books, a set of colored pencils and a sketch pad and a skein of yarn and a pair of knitting needles Danielle had given her when she was in college.

"Maybe I will finally learn to knit," she said in response to Auggie's comment about hobbies.

"Not sure how many hats and scarves we'll need on a tropical island, but if it keeps you entertained I'll sweat," he shouldered the back pack as she led him back to the car.

They got well outside of DC before stopping for breakfast, with extra coffee to go they were on route to West Virginia. The ride was quiet, Annie trying to keep the tears rolling down her cheeks from Auggie. In his own head Auggie was running over the plan.

"I have way more stuff than you," Annie pointed out as they waited for his contact.

"Not for long," he smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"I have some supplies coming," and as soon as he said it a dark SUV pulled up behind them.

"Big blonde, military-type behind the wheel?" Auggie whispered.

"Yes," Annie replied.

"Connor?" Auggie called.

"Hey Auggie, good to see you man," the bigger guy clapped Auggie on the shoulder and Auggie returned the greeting.

"Connor Haskill, this is Annie. Annie this is Connor Haskill," Annie shook the man's hand.

"You're as beautiful as Auggie described," the man smiled.

"Oh really?" Annie blushed and looked at Auggie sideways.

"Told you it's a heck of a party trick," he whispered.

"I have everything you asked for," Connor brushed his hand against Auggie's and led him to the back of the SUV.

Auggie ran his hand over a high tech computer and flipped open a briefcase full of medical supplies.

"Anything we could possibly need for a year," Auggie explained the medical supplies, "short of appendicitis or a heart attack we should be able to treat one another."

Annie nodded and swallowed despite the lack of moisture in her mouth.

Another briefcase held what looked like six figures worth of cash. Annie had grabbed her $50,000 from her safe, but it seemed like pocket change.

"The machine is pre-programmed with your flight plan, including fuel stops. It will beep like hell if you are off course. I vetted this guy myself, but without more time the background check was only as good as I could manage on short notice. If he goes off course you will know about it and you know what to do," he looked Annie in the eyes and she nodded.

"The payment went through fine I assume?" Auggie asked.

"Yes and it was totally untraceable, that account is safe," Connor confirmed.

"I can't thank you enough man," Auggie reached out his hand.

"You thanked me plenty," Connor laughed and shook Auggie's hand.

"Good luck," he nodded to Annie and she smiled in return.

They stashed the new cases in the back of her car and proceeded to the airfield.

***555***

"No plane yet," Annie announced as they arrived at the glorified corn field that was playing the role of airport.

"He'll be on time," Auggie assured and got out of the car to stretch his legs.

He wandered a few yards from the car and stopped.

"You OK?" Annie asked.

"I am," he turned towards her voice and smiled.

"I have something for you. I was going to give it you when we got settled, but I think you should have it now, start out this journey right," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring Annie had ever seen.

"Oh my god," she gasped.

"It was in the safe, I found it when I was cleaning it out. It was my great-grandmother's. Our IDs, we're married on paper now, but really, it is more than on paper…" he started to kick at the dirt, shyly.

"Auggie, I don't need a wedding, or even a ring, although this one is quite something, to know the level of commitment you are making to me right now. I will wear this, gladly and proudly, but I would be just as happy with a plastic gum ball machine ring, as long as it came from you."

"I love you," he reached for her and kissed her deeply.

They were startled out of their solitary celebration by the sound of an approaching plane.

Auggie slid the ring on her finger.

"I don't have one for you," she realized suddenly.

"I still have Mr. Quinn's," he fished the simple band from his pocket.

She smiled and slid the ring over his long finger as a very nice looking private jet landed in the old corn field.

"Here we go," she squeezed his hand and headed towards the plane.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Escape Clause Part 4

Annie was nearly comatose when they arrived at a small, but lovely, hotel in Niue. Auggie sweet talked the front desk clerk and pre-paid for 2 weeks with little question or suspicion. He also appeared to ask about some food, but Annie was too physically and emotionally drained to understand what he was saying.

The journey was comfortable but long and stressful. Every time Annie would fall asleep she saw her nieces or Joan and her tiny baby bump behind her eyes, heard her sister's voice in her ear and she would startle awake.

"Come on honey," Auggie encouraged her as he might a small child.

A bellman wheeled their luggage ahead and Annie guided Auggie behind the cart.

The room was bright and airy with a view of the private beach and a lazy ceiling fan thwacking against the fresh sea air.

"This is beautiful," Annie said sincerely as she tipped the man who stacked the luggage conscientiously out of Auggie's way.

"Thank you Ma'am, your dinner will be delivered soon," he smiled and left.

"Dinner?"

"I ordered some provisions, not sure when we last ate a meal. Those airplane snacks were good, but not a meal," he grinned and unfolded his cane to explore the room.

"I need a shower," she said softly.

Auggie was at a disadvantage in reading Annie, especially when she was withdrawn or tired as her voice didn't help as much. The vibe he was picking up right now was he was not invited to the shower, which was ok with him, he understood Annie had to mourn her life before they could move on with the new one. Having already mourned a lost life after Iraq he truly understood.

He sat at the foot of the bed, exhausted himself, and listened to the slide of zippers and the rummage of clothes as Annie decided on something to wear. He heard the soft tapping of plastic bottles as she gathered shampoo and body wash.

Although Auggie was not invited, Annie didn't close the bathroom door and soon after the water started Auggie could feel the damp warmth and smell the familiar scents of Annie. His stomach constricted in hunger, and not just for the food.

When Annie emerged 15 minutes later there was food arranged on the balcony table and Auggie was sipping a glass of wine. She scuffed her feet to signal her arrival, having startled Auggie enough during their brief cohabitation.

"Hey," he said over his shoulder as she leaned down and kissed his neck.

"This looks delicious, I am really hungry," she admitted.

"Then let's eat," he smiled.

The table was set as normal for 2 people with Annie's place at the other end, opposite Auggie's, but she pulled the place mat over to the side next to Auggie and tucked her chair under as close to him as she could, her bare leg brushed against his knee.

He just smiled and began eating.

"What do we do now?" Annie asked tiredly, her body starting to wind down, but her mind still racing.

"We lay low for the next few days, no attempt to contact the outside world. Let Rossabi and Joan do their job. We are, as far as the hotel knows, on our honeymoon. I arranged for food for the next three days and there should be a good stash of water, ice and liquor in the room now, he indicated back through the door where Annie saw the desk littered with beverages.

"So your plan is we get drunk and have sex for a few days?"

"Unless you wanted to get started on that knitting?" he smirked.

"If that smirk weren't so sexy I might try to argue your presumption, but I really want you right now," she leaned over to kiss him.

"Plenty of time for that," he kissed her back, "eat this delicious food and then let me shower and we can regroup in bed."

The plan may have been free form, but it was still a plan and Annie smiled at her partner's dedication to following it.

***555***

Three days later Annie lay naked and relaxed, Auggie's hands rubbing lotion into her back as she listened to the sea crash below their balcony. As his hands moved over her skin the ceiling fan cooled the heat of his touch raising goose bumps and sending shivers Annie could not believe she still got after 3 solid days of lounging in this bed.

"Maybe we can do this for a whole year?" Annie slurred in her slightly drunk sleepy voice.

"Huh?" Auggie asked his mind wandering as his hands slipped well below Annie's back.

"I have never spent 3 days in the same room with one person before, didn't know how I would react, but my God it has been fun," she turned over and looked up at the man who saved her life more times than she could count.

Auggie slid his hands underneath her and scooped her up into his lap as effortlessly as he would grab a pillow. She contoured her body to his perfectly, her head finding the spot against his neck where she could both hear and feel his pulse against her ear.

"We would be naïve to think every day will be as easy as the past few, but we have to be strong Annie, not just physically, but emotionally. That is what this time is for, to make our bond even stronger than it has always been. So when those bad days come and we are bitter and angry with what has happened we will know, deep in our hearts, that we are in this together," he spoke against the crown of her head and Annie felt his words all the way down to her toes.

"I couldn't do this without you," she whispered.

"You don't have to," he assured.

"Danielle used to love me like this, like I was the most important person in her world," Annie shook her head.

"Used to?" Auggie questioned.

"Then she had kids, she would never leave Chloe and Katia for me and I would never want her to. No one else I ever 'loved' would have done this Auggie, no one else would be here right now."

"That's not true, I am pretty sure Ben, Simon and even Eyal would be here right now," Auggie laughed.

"Maybe, for these fun days, but none of them could hold on when things got really tough. They would be in the wind as soon as they got bored."

"I'm not going anywhere," he stroked her hair.

"I know," she nodded.

"Besides, I really want to learn how to knit," he smiled.

TBC…

NOTE: The next chapter is going to jump ahead in time a bit. Trust me, I could write these two having sex in a tropical paradise every day, but in order to realistically get to some plot, we need a little time jump.


	5. Chapter 5

Escape Clause Part 5

Six Months After Leaving DC

Annie returned home with some groceries, put them away while humming to herself and finally realized Auggie was not inside. A quick peak out the back window uncovered him in his favorite spot, the hammock in the back yard. She grabbed some water and headed out to see him.

"Hey, you awake?" she asked cautiously not wanting to wake him if he was napping.

Their days and nights were all rolled into each other, not keeping any sort of professional hours had turned them into night owls.

"Yep," he answered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Water?" she tapped it against his hand and crawled into the hammock with him.

"Thanks," he kissed her cheek.

"What's up with you, you seem sad?"

"Joan had her baby," he informed her.

Annie's body tensed, they hadn't spoken of anyone from their former life in months, even Danielle and the girls. She shifted on top of him and looked up into his tanned face and saw genuine sadness there.

"How'd you find out?" she asked.

"Google search, she's kind of a big deal, first female DCS and all. A little boy, she named him Jacob," Auggie sifted his fingers through her hair.

"I'm glad for her. Any mention of the father?"

"Not a word."

"Curious."

"That is the last thing I wanted to do, make you curious," Auggie chuckled.

"As long as she and the baby are safe," Annie tried to tamp down the curiosity.

"Mmmhmm," Auggie reached a foot down to rock them in the hammock.

"You want to have a baby?" she asked out of the blue.

"Wow you really are bored," he teased.

"I pulled another packet of birth control pills out of the supply and wondered why I was taking them. It's silly," she tried to erase the conversation.

"It's not silly if you are thinking about it, but is it really fair to a kid to bring them into this," he countered.

"Bring them into what, a happy home in paradise?"

"You know it isn't that simple Annie."

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Your friend is back," Annie smiled and reached up to encourage the small lizard on to her hand.

"Hank, his name is Hank." 

"Hello Hank," Annie introduced herself before depositing the lizard on Auggie's chest.

"That's not the same one," Auggie shook his head.

"How in the world do you know, I can see him and he looks the same to me," Annie laughed.

"Hank is heavier."

"Maybe he lost weight."

"At the lizard gym?"

"You are hysterical," Annie leaned up to kiss him, trying not to squish 'not Hank' in the process.

***555***

Eight months after they left DC Auggie surprised Annie with a small birthday cake.

"Did you make this?" she beamed at him.

"I had a little help from Thalia next door and by little help I mean she did it all and I thanked her profusely," Auggie admitted.

"Thank you," she kissed him thoroughly, climbing into his lap and wrapping her legs around him.

"There's more," he fought for breath under the onslaught of her mouth.

"Can it wait until after I have my way with you?" she continued her assault on his neck.

"I think you'll want it now," he tried to divert her attention.

"Oh I definitely want it now," she laughed as she leaned up squirming in his lap and realizing he wanted it now too.

"Annie," he used his Captain Anderson voice which he thought put him in charge but really just turned her on more.

"Yesssss?" she drew out the word.

"I promise you an entire night of earth shattering sex, but I worked really hard to get you this present and I think you are going to be even more into me when you see what it is…." he teased.

"I could not possibly be more into you," she said sincerely.

That got her another couple minutes of kissing before Auggie finally stood and dislodged her from his lap.

"Here," he presented his laptop to her and stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin on her shoulder.

"You're giving me our laptop?" she asked quizzically.

"Press play," he instructed and she moused to the play button on the screen.

She heard it before she saw them, two little girls singing happy birthday as finally a camera came into focus and there were Chloe and Katia with a cupcake in front of them, with a candle in place. They sang the whole song and then Danielle came into view, her eyes suspiciously moist.

"Happy Birthday Annie, we love you so much!" she said.

"Hope you and Auggie are having fun on your trip," Chloe added.

"I'm learning French in school Annie, you need to help me with my homework when you get back," Katia smiled her crooked grin.

"Happy birthday!" all three of them waved and blew out the candle and then they were gone.

"Can I watch it again?" Annie asked desperately.

"Sure," Auggie nodded.

He had known it would make her sad, but it would also bring her joy and peace to know everything was OK for them.

After the third time she watched it, Annie turned around in Auggie's arms. She brought her hands to his face and kissed him. He felt the tears on her cheeks and pulled her even closer. She tugged on him and encouraged them both to the floor, the cool tile of the kitchen a good contrast to the heat coming off their bodies.

***555***

"How did you do it?" Annie asked later as they lounged around naked in bed eating birthday cake.

"I thought we weren't going to reach out for a year," she added.

"I know, but your birthday seemed like a good excuse and I have been monitoring the news, no mention of us for over 4 months. Rossabi and Joan did their part and the story is dead. I sent a very cryptic email to your sister from the cookie company she used to use. I piggybacked on their IP address and rerouted the response tag."

"She figured out it was you?"

"Your sister is pretty clever, she knew right away and she asked me the right things to make sure I was who she thought I was."

"Such as?"

"How many Native American tribes could I name?" Auggie laughed remembering the field trip he led a lifetime ago.

"She loved you that day," Annie smiled.

"Anyway, we can't overuse the protocol, but your birthday seemed special enough to try it out and now there is a channel if there is a problem on either end. I'll monitor it and keep her safe Annie, I promise."

"Thank you so much Auggie," she fed him another bite of cake and laughed when the frosting missed its mark.

She helped remove the excess from his chin with her tongue and soon the cake was being forgotten on the night stand.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

Escape Clause Part 6

NOTE: I knew they should have just run away together…..I'll recover from 4X07 but not right away.

Annie and Auggie had never tried to change their appearance, other than the ways nature and time had changed them they looked the same a year after leaving DC. Annie's hair was much longer and blonder from the sun, Auggie tanned, but when Calder Michaels showed up in Niue with a photo of the couple it didn't take long for his yearlong obsession to bear fruit.

Annie emerged from a long swim, energized and refreshed. A young woman she had met at the market a few months ago and had taught to knit was standing by the shore chewing on a finger nail.

"Annie, someone is asking about you in town, he has a picture," was all June said.

Annie looked the young woman in the eye.

"Did you say anything?" Annie asked in her old interrogation voice.

"No, of course not, but others might," June nodded.

"Thank you, for everything," Annie squeezed the young woman's shoulder and jogged towards the small house skirted by dune grass at the top of the beach.

Her only thought was of Auggie, walking in and finding him dead, the place trashed. The run up the sand was hard, but she was winded more by anxiety than exertion when she carefully opened the back door.

There he was, standing in the kitchen with only his bathing suit on eating a sandwich.

"Oh thank god," she breathed.

"Hey, I was just coming down, I was starving though, apparently lounging around and having lots of sex is good for the appetite," he grinned.

She couldn't help but smile back.

"We have to go, now," she stressed the last word.

"OK," he turned serious right away.

Within 5 minutes they had everything they absolutely needed packed, enough clothes and toiletries, the blanket Annie had knit and all of Auggie's gear. Auggie slipped on shoes and a tee shirt and Annie threw a dress on over her still wet bathing suit, she toed into her sneakers and led Auggie out the side door.

***555***

When Calder Michaels entered the small house through the never locked front door he could still smell them. He moved from room to room, noting the still fresh sandwich on the counter, the drops of water left by Annie's wet hair, 2 wine glasses with a tiny bit of red wine at the bottom of each in the living room, the small rumpled bed that sagged a little in the middle, the dents in the pillow so close together he could picture them sleeping like one.

He also noticed the lack of any equipment and the open and empty drawers.

"Dammit," he cursed.

***555***

They made it to the marina on foot via back roads in good time without passing anyone, as far as Annie noticed. Annie had thought the boat an unnecessary expense but now she was thanking her stars Auggie had this plan in place.

"Only way off this island is by boat or helicopter and helicopters kind of draw attention," he reasoned back then.

"We're here," she whispered her voice strained for the first time in almost a year.

They boarded the boat and Auggie stowed the gear, powered up the computer and familiarized himself with the vessel as Annie started the motor and piloted them out of the little boat slip.

When they were a safe distance and in calm seas Annie dropped anchor as the stars started to glint out overhead.

"Who do you think it was?" Annie asked, the first thing she had said in hours.

"Could've been anyone: Henry, Arthur, Rossabi, Calder, Teo or some new player on the board Annie, it's been a year."

"I thought we were old news?" she sighed.

"Apparently not."

"Is this because you reached out to Danielle, oh my God Danielle," she startled suddenly.

"That was four months ago. Danielle knows how to reach out if there is trouble, I haven't heard from her."

"What if they killed her Auggie," she stood suddenly her stomach roiling from the thought.

"Annie don't," his Captain Anderson voice reappeared.

She knew he was right, but the thought niggled in the back of her head as she paced the boat's deck.

Auggie had found the 2 week supply of food and water they kept stocked on the boat and handed her a small bottle of lukewarm water and a few dehydrated apricots.

"What do we do now?" Annie seemed lost and Auggie was worried about her.

"We spend a day or two at sea, heading for a more populated place where we can blend in a little, maybe back to New Zealand, where we lay low for a day or two and make sure we weren't followed. Then we try to reach Joan, hopefully she will know who is on our tail, we can't formulate a real plan until we know who we are planning against."

"Wow," she turned to look at him, his scruffy bearded face gorgeous in the moonlight.

"What?"

"You are so hot when you are saving my life," she laughed.

"It's my life too," he said honestly.

"It's our life now," she stood and walked to him, her ring sparkled in the light like one of the stars or the moon off the water, it seemed like everything was sparkly as she stepped into his arms and kissed him.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

Escape Clause Part 7

Annie woke from a fitful sleep, her naked body draped over Auggie's and covered with the hand knit blanket she considered her masterpiece. Auggie's breathing indicated he was awake.

"Hey," she said quietly looking up at him.

"Hey," he smiled at her, he looked pensive.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Hank," he replied seriously.

"The lizard?" Seriously?" she laughed.

"No, but I wanted to hear you laugh," he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"You're sweet," she returned the kiss and felt his hands raking through her long messy hair.

"I think you should cut your hair, as much as I hate the idea," he admitted.

Annie nodded.

"I'll keep the beard going and we might want to downplay your sighted lead as much as we can, blind guys get noticed pretty quickly," he outlined.

"Yeah, but married people holding hands and leaning against one another don't," she assured him.

"Right," he smiled at the word 'married' and kissed her hand where his great-grandmother's ring was joined by a simple band he bought her 6 months ago.

"We should probably put a little more distance between us and Niue before sunrise," Annie grumbled as she separated from his warm body and looked for their hastily discarded clothes.

"You pilot I'll chart our course," Auggie agreed and got dressed himself.

***555***

Two days later they arrived at a tiny seaside village in New Zealand. There was not a sign of a customs agent or law enforcement official of any kind, in fact all Annie could see were sheep.

"I think this is a good place to land," Annie mentioned as she cut the engine down to a low rumble and slid into a slip.

It was very early morning and there was a mist that hung below the tops of the hills, the aforementioned sheep munching lazily as a few random farm houses dotted the landscape.

"You ready for this?" Auggie asked as he handed her a back pack and a map they had picked up on their first stop in New Zealand a year before.

"Yes," she said confidently.

"You haven't been on a mission in over a year," he held her close.

"I am not going up against FSB counterintelligence, I am simply getting some directions from a local villager," she chuckled.

Auggie shouldered his very heavy pack, full of his equipment and their remaining cash and worldly possessions and followed Annie off the boat. She walked them to the foot of one of the hills and found a tree, Auggie removed the pack and sat down against the tree, his sunglasses in place despite the fog.

"I'll be back soon," Annie kissed his forehead and headed off towards one of the farmhouses.

Soon she came upon a young man scattering some feed for the goats in his pen.

"Excuse me?" Annie asked sweetly.

"Well good morning," he greeted back.

"Good morning, my husband and I were hiking the trails this morning and he twisted his ankle pretty badly, we were hoping a bus or something came through these parts to get us back to the city," she pointed to Queenstown on the map.

"No busses around here darling, but I am heading in town to the hardware store in a bit, happy to give you both a lift, where is he?"

"I left him with most of our gear just a bit over there," Annie pointed back by the road to where Auggie was.

"By the foot of the hill?"

"Yes, exactly."

"I'll swing by for you in about an hour," he offered.

"Thanks so much," Annie smiled and headed back to Auggie.

***555***

It took them a full day but they got to Queenstown, checked in with yet another set of passports Auggie had on hand and flopped on to a bed, hopefully safe for the night.

"Don't let me fall asleep?" Auggie said sleepily.

"What would you like me to do to prevent that?" Annie teased and reached a hand out for his thigh.

He rolled over, practically on top of her and kissed her thoroughly.

"Nothing I would like more my dear, but I have work to do," he waggled his eyebrows at her and seemed to find some energy.

"You've really missed this," she said.

"I have loved every minute of our vacation together Annie, but yeah, it is exciting to be back in the game a little," he shrugged.

"You were worried about me getting bored and you're the one who can't stay away from the danger," she smiled.

"I am not jonesing for danger Annie, I am excited to try to establish a protocol with Joan though, test my old channels see if I can get us out of the danger."

"You're a fixer," she surmised, "can I take a shower?"

"Sure, just linger long enough for me to wash your back, I'll only need 10 minutes to get the posts up and then it is up to Joan."

"I'll be waiting….in the shower….naked," she called the last word as she stripped off her tee shirt and threw it at the back of his head.

Auggie used two old protocols, an organic farm recipe swap site and a Start Trek fan chat room. On the farm site he asked if anyone had a good recipe for an heirloom tomato tart. The question wasn't that obscure but he signed it tomatolover76889 which was a handle Joan knew. On the Star Trek board he opened a chat room for discussion of his favorite episode of the original series: The Trouble with Tribbles, again he signed it tribblefan98635. He sat and stared at the two windows but the reality was it was 2 in the morning in DC and Joan was probably not sitting there trolling random websites, so he made sure all the locks on the door were secure and he joined Annie in the shower.

***555***

36 hours later Joan responded.

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

Escape Clause Part 8

Note: Please don't attempt to make the recipe below, I had to alter the ingredients list to make my code work.

Annie was not asleep despite the hour and the soothing breathing of the man she lay on top of. There had been many nights over the past year when she laid awake like this, but usually Auggie's warmth and the repetitive rise and fall of his chest would lull her to sleep, tonight was not one of those nights.

She rolled away from him and slipped out of bed. Her departure didn't go unnoticed.

"You OK?" he mumbled.

"MMhhmm, just have to pee, be right back, go back to sleep," she replied.

She padded to the bathroom and squinted against the harsh hotel lighting when she flipped the switch. She used the bathroom and washed her hands, staring too long at her newly cropped hair, the messy bob she did herself with scissors dulled by a year of cutting yarn. She didn't hate her new look, but Auggie seemed to miss her longer locks.

Instead of returning to bed she moved to the desk, grabbing Auggie's discarded tee shirt on the way. She powered up the computer and waited. She typed in their passwords and scanned the Star Trek chat room.

"Thought you were coming back to bed," Auggie said groggily.

"Can't sleep."

"Come back to bed, I'll help you sleep," he said with a teasing level of smarmy.

"I'm sure you could, but I want to check the sites," she said as she moved to the Organic Farm site.

"Annie, you need to sleep. I know you are stressed, but…"

"Auggie," she interrupted.

"…it is the middle of the night…." He continued.

"Auggie," she tried again.

"…and quite frankly I was dreaming about you anyway, so we could just…"

"AUGGIE," she said it a little harsher.

"Huh?" he started to pay attention.

"Come here," she said firmly.

He hopped out of bed and found his boxers where he remembered Annie tossing them earlier.

"What am I looking at?" he pulled up a chair to the desk.

"You got a few responses to your request for a tomato tart recipe, but this one is signed NittanyLionsGal1300gmt," Annie read.

"Joan," Auggie smiled.

"I think so," Annie grinned.

"Read it to me," he reached out and patted her hand.

"Dear Tomato Lover,

I have a tried and true recipe that has served me well for 7 years. Pre-heat to 350 degrees and use a good pan, a cheap one will do, but a good one yields a better result.

For the dough

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

1/4 teaspoon salt

ice water as needed

3/4 lb fresh mozzarella (not unsalted), very thinly sliced

5 mixed heirloom tomatoes, sliced 3/4 inch thick

You must be careful with the dough, it is very delicate, do not over handle it. The filling can stand up to anything, it is stable, but the dough must be treated special."

Annie and Auggie let the words sink in and Annie scanned them again.

"Write down every number, separate the filling numbers from the rest," Auggie asked.

Starting with the 7 year reference she did as he said. It is a phone number and a separate 5 digit number for the filling," she said.

"735 area code is not an agency #," he pointed out unnecessarily as Annie was already searching for the area code.

"It isn't an area code in the US," she reported back.

"So either Joan is underground too, or she has her own area code like you do, complete with a virtual gate keeper," Annie referenced the last 5 digits.

"Read me the signature again?" Auggie asked.

"NittanyLionsGal1300gmt," Annie repeated.

"Saturday 1:00 Greenwich Mean Time," Auggie deciphered.

"And the bit about the high quality pan, I think she means we need a sat phone or something secure, not to trust a burner," Annie surmised.

"I agree, good thing we have one of those," Auggie grinned.

"We've had a sat phone this whole time?" Annie asked in awe.

"Yep, they make them a little more portable these days," he pulled a larger than normal looking cell out of the computer case.

"So what now?" Annie sighed.

"We go back to bed and wait until 1:00 am Sunday morning local time to call Joan," he suggested and stood pulling her up with him.

"That's 2 days away," she laughed.

"Wouldn't be the first time we've spent two days in bed. I put the Do Not Disturb sign out last night, we'll just leave it there. Come on, I promise I can get your mind off this, for a little while any way," he tugged her close and kissed her passionately.

***555***

Annie dialed the numbers from the tart recipe, still unsure they were even a phone number, at 1:00 am local time Sunday. As Auggie expected the phone prompted for a password and Annie entered the 5 digits left over from the recipe and hit the # sign.

"Helvetica?" Joan asked her voice as clear as if she were in the room.

"Yes," Annie replied her voice sounding foreign to herself over the phone line.

"Thank god, are you both ok?" Joan sounded like her old self.

"Yes, we are safe. We were pursued out of our last spot and are secure in a new location for a week now," Annie reported.

"This line is totally secure Annie, it was designed by Eric Barber for the purpose of this call," Joan reported.

"He better not be sitting in my chair," Auggie piped up as the two shared the phone between them.

"Auggie," Joan's voice softened, the way it always had for Auggie.

"Are you safe Joan? The baby? Danielle?" Auggie asked.

"Yes, everyone home is safe. Annie, I spoke to Danielle myself yesterday, she and the girls are fine," Auggie felt the stress slide from Annie's frame at the news.

"Thank you Joan."

"No problem, she is worried, but I assured her things might be changing for the better soon."

"Is that accurate?" Annie asked hopefully.

"Henry is back in jail where he belongs and I assure he won't be getting out any time soon. I trust from your reported location shift that Calder had found you though," Joan sounded concerned.

"Yes, he tracked us to a tiny little island where we had gone completely undetected for a year," Annie mentioned.

"He and Henry never bought the 'presumed dead' story Rossaabi and I crafted. Although it appeased law enforcement, Henry and Calder have been hunting you for a year. When Henry was taken in Calder bolted, he had one flimsy lead but apparently it panned out. Guess a CIA liaison was vacationing wherever you were and thought he recognized Auggie mentioned it to Calder in passing, he hadn't done anything with it until Henry was arrested. We need to flush him out Annie, he is the last piece to all of this," Joan told the long tale.

"How did you get Henry?" Auggie asked.

"Your guys finally broke through that flash drive, once they cracked it things kept spilling out. Henry was funding terrorists to perpetrate crimes that he would then swoop in and profit off of through Lexington. Once we had the right threads to pull we wove together an air tight case and he was just convicted 3 weeks ago."

"How do we flush out Calder?" Annie asked.

"I think you should come home," Joan replied.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

Escape Clause Part 9

Annie and Auggie agreed to think about Joan's plan and to call her back in 48 hours with their decision. Auggie emerged from the shower and found Annie sitting on their hotel balcony overlooking the water.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked gently as he pulled a chair close.

"Yeah, why?"

"You've been awfully quiet since we talked to Joan. What's in your head?"

"A lot of conflicted noise," she admitted.

"Do you not want to go home?" Auggie asked with no hint of accusation.

"Selfishly? No, I don't want to go home, I want to go back to our little house in Niue and lay in that hammock with you forever, have babies and play on the beach and forget we ever worked for the CIA," she confessed.

"Really?" Auggie was stunned.

"Yeah," she said sadly.

"Then let's take Calder off the game board and that's what we'll do," he reached out and ran his hands over her shorter hair longing for the beachy curly ropes of hair she had just a week ago.

"You know it won't be that easy, and Calder is dangerous and once we are home maybe all of this will disappear," she looked at the ring on her finger, "we'll be back to secrets and lies."

"I'm a little surprised you think we can just turn it on and off so quickly," he sounded hurt now.

"It's not us Auggie, it's them, the CIA and the life it provides," Annie used to crave that life.

"So you think we can only be happy together in a perfect environment, that our commitment isn't strong enough to survive the test of reality," he was working himself up to actually angry now.

"No," she said it softly but it sounded like 'yes' to him.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he said coldly and stood up and walked away.

"Auggie," she protested weakly and didn't even get up to follow him.

She heard the sounds of him stalking around the hotel room getting dressed, drawers snapped shut and his muffled curse when he misjudged the distance to the desk. She didn't perk up until she heard the sound of the door open and close.

"Auggie?" she turned and saw he was gone.

***555***

When he hadn't returned three hours later Annie was concerned. She was unsure if she was more concerned that Calder had found him or that he was angry enough to stay away that long. She didn't know what to do, her heart wanted to go look for him, but her head knew they were supposed to be laying low.

Finally as she decided to get dressed and go after him she heard the beep and click of the hotel lock. Annie froze, he looked awful, like he might have been crying and her heart constricted at the thought that she caused him pain.

"Auggie," her voice was strained.

"I'm sorry, I had to get out of here for a minute," he looked contrite.

"You were gone for over three hours," she corrected his math.

"I know, I had a lot to think about Annie and we need to talk, really talk," he looked serious.

"OK," she nodded resigned.

She reached to lead him to the bed but, for the first time in their history, he shook off her lead and used his cane to find a chair. Annie tried to control the recoil of fear that struck her at that gesture.

"When I told you about Helen I told you all the facts, but I didn't tell you everything," Auggie began and Annie sat at the edge of the bed frowning.

"That doesn't make sense?"

"I told you what is in the file, the facts of what happened to her, to us, but I didn't tell you that for years afterwards I analyzed our relationship. It occurred to me after she was gone that she never loved me the way I loved her. Sure, we had fun and it was a big adventure, but she was in it for the adventure and I was a nice addition to it all," his voice was bitter and his eyes darker than normal.

"Auggie…." Annie tried to plead her case.

"Let me finish. I thought things were different with Natasha, even though I started that relationship for the CIA I really loved her Annie, I think you saw that a few years ago. When given the choice though, after a second chance, I let her go because I knew she would always pick the life over me," now he stood and paced the small room, his cane moving in even sweeping arcs.

"It was why I preferred the no strings lifestyle you entered into a few years back. I could take a girl home and never need to know her name, I was never attached to them or they to me and it worked, until I met you. Shortly after I met you the one night stands started to become less and less frequent, for a while I thought I could trust my heart to someone else again, but your heart was so damaged by Mercer I never showed my hand…"

"Auggie…."

"Let me finish, I just spent three hours putting words to these feelings. I was just about to take that step, to try to shift our friendship to something more when Danielle told me about Doctor Scott. It seemed you were over Ben and had already moved on right past me. Two weeks later, I met Parker. Maybe I expect too much from the women I love, but she was gone the second she had to deal with any kind of stress…."

"Doctor Scott was nobody Auggie…" Annie tried to get a word in edgewise.

"Regardless it was a spiral with us, Parker left and I was a mess when I was coming around you were so distant and then the Simon thing was revealed and then you were shot Annie," his voice quavered on 'shot' and a tear escaped his long lashes.

"All of this," he started with a deep breath, "all of this is to say that I don't want to do this if it isn't forever Annie. I want forever with you, if that is 60 years or 60 seconds I want it all with you and no one else."

"Yeah?" she said her voice breaking.

"Yeah. And if we live that forever in Niue or DC, if we work or we don't if we have 5 kids or none, I want you Annie. Up until this morning I thought you wanted that too. So instead of assuming, as I have done in the past, I am asking you Annie. What do you want?"

TBC…


	10. Chapter 10

Escape Clause Part 10

Note: Thanks so much for the nice reviews, I really appreciate them!

***555***

"We are really quite a pair," Annie blew out a long breath and stood walking towards the sliding glass door that looked out over the water.

Auggie hung his head and his hands between his knees either in defeat or in an effort not to vomit, either one looked bad.

"Every man I have ever loved has disappointed me or left me or both, starting with my father. I know Daddy-issues are old news, but I learned what men were like from him. He was big on excitement and low on commitment. Same with Ben, same with Simon…"

"Doctor Scott was pretty stable," Auggie pointed out.

"But I didn't love him," Annie countered turning back around to face Auggie.

"Annie, I am ready and willing to fight FOR you, but I am not going to fight WITH you. We need to be on the same page here, we need to agree that what we have is worth the hardship we will inevitably face as part of this life, or any life for that matter," He stood up and held his arms out in seeming surrender, but Annie took it as an invitation and barreled into them.

He wrapped his arms around her, more accepting of her physical contact then when he entered the room earlier.

"I want you Auggie, I want us, but when the excitement gets ramped back up in DC I don't want to lose what we've had this year, this peace. And I do not want you to get hurt," she put one hand over the scarred shoulder where Auggie was shot 24 hours after they had started sleeping together.

"I've already had my 'you sleep with Annie Walker you get shot' bullet, I'll be fine," he teased sounding more like himself.

"That is really not funny," she deadpanned.

"Sorry. I don't like the idea of returning to a constant state of worry over you either, but I love you and will worry about you no matter what. I worried every time you swam out into the ocean in Niue, sometimes I worry you'll slip in the shower. When you love someone there is worry and there is pain and there are hard choices," Auggie was speaking quickly and into her hair but she was getting most of it, really she was just happy to be back in his arms.

"If not touching someone for 4 or 5 hours causes you actual physical pain, that's love too right?" she squeezed him a little tighter.

He nodded against her hair.

"I don't think I ever loved anyone long enough, they were all gone before I felt this way Auggie. I'm kind of in new territory here," she admitted, "I'm sorry if I made you doubt us."

"I'm sorry I walked out and confirmed your fear about men…" he didn't get to finish his thought as Annie found his lips with hers and began moving them back to the bed.

"Enough talking," she laughed as she pulled him down on the bed.

His adrenaline was pumping, but Auggie forced himself to slow down, he rolled them until they were on their sides facing each other and he ran his hands along her silhouette so reverently she whimpered.

"Please," she managed, her fingers buried in his hair trying to coax him closer.

***555***

"So, that was good," Annie joked as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Make up sex usually is," Auggie concurred and accepted the water Annie handed him.

"Did we?" Annie asked cryptically.

"Huh?" Auggie asked adorably confused.

"Did we make up? Are we OK?" Annie asked as she sat up and straddled Auggie, trying to look into his eyes.

"Yes, we both just have to stop judging the other by our ghosts," he said honestly.

"Then let's accept Joan's plan, let's go home and finish this," Annie sighed.

***555***

Joan replayed the plan over the phone the next day and Annie fretted about the danger, but later that day both of them prepared to board planes to the United States.

"I'll see you in a couple days," Auggie said quietly near his gate.

"We haven't slept apart in over a year," Annie pointed out as she played with the hem of his shirt.

"I know," he said softly and his eyes were sad.

"Be careful," she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be with Joan, you're the one who needs to watch your back, I won't be there to do it," he said with a sly smile.

"No one watches my back like you," she replied sincerely.

"I love you,'" he whispered as he turned his lips to hers as they called his flight.

TBC…


	11. Chapter 11

Escape Clause Part 11

Annie checked in to a Comfort Inn in Wichita, Kansas and waited for her call. She had 2 phones, a burner for the job and a fully untraceable one if needed. She also had the laptop with the email protocol to contact her sister, she sent a cryptic message that this might be over soon, then she ordered some take out and tried to find something on cable.

***555***

Auggie walked in to the bank in DC as if he had been there just the week before. He asked for access to his safety deposit box and was brought back to the secure room and the box presented.

As expected the bank manager called Langley immediately.

"You're sure it's him?" Barber asked.

"He had all the requisite credentials," the bank manager reported.

"Is he blind?" Barber was just having fun now.

"Yes," the bank manager sounded like he didn't talk to the CIA every day.

"Try to keep him occupied for as long as possible. Give him a form to fill out, we'll send someone right down," Barber hung up and dialed Joan's office.

"He's in place," he reported.

Joan called a briefing in the DPD bullpen immediately. They were certain henry and Calder still had moles in Langley and this would hopefully route some out.

"I have just received word that former Operative Auggie Anderson was spotted in DC. Operative Anderson, along with Operative Annie Walker were presumed dead over a year ago in the wake of the death of Seth Newman. A team is being dispatched to apprehend Operative Anderson right now to ascertain his whereabouts and the state of Operative Walker. This gets my full attention and our collective top priority," and with that Joan turned on her heel and left.

"Let the games begin," Barber mumbled to himself as he headed over to Tech Ops.

***555***

Auggie tried not to smile when the bank manager gave him a form to fill out and then left before reading it to him. Barber was going to pay for that. Auggie pretended to be working on the form with great concentration, when really he was doodling what he assumed were bunny rabbits in the margin.

He actually retrieved a couple things from the safety deposit box and called the manager back in. The guy let him go which made Auggie assume the team was in place. Sure enough as soon as he passed through the security gate from the safety deposit area a hand grabbed his upper arm.

"Mr. Anderson, please come with us," a voice, Hollman's, said quietly.

Auggie didn't say a word in the car, unsure who else was with Hollman. At Langley he was led to an interrogation room where Hollman brought him some water and told him someone would be with him shortly.

Three people came intot he room, one of them Auggie knew was Joan. He tried not to smile, but he was truly happy to be back in her presence.

"What is going on here?" Auggie demanded.

"We have a few questions Mr. Anderson," a male voice he didn't recognize.

"And you are?"

"You don't get to ask questions yet. First, where is Annie Walker?"

Auggie looked up with the most devastated look he could muster.

"Annie is dead."

"Up until an hour ago we thought you were dead too, so forgive us if we are skeptical. Two top clearance CIA Operatives are off the grid for over a year, we're a little anxious to know where you have been."

"Here and there," Auggie shrugged.

"We need a little more than that."

"Do I need a lawyer?" Auggie smirked his most annoying smirk and Joan had to bite her cheek to keep a straight face.

"Right now you need to shut up and tell us where Walker is," the first guy was getting annoyed now.

Auggie just sat there mutely.

"What is with him?" the guy blew up at the other people in the room.

"You told him to shut up and then asked him a question, I think he opted to follow your first instruction," Hollman's voice and Auggie smiled and pointed his finger in what he hoped was Hollman's direction indicating he hit the nail on the head.

"Let me give this a shot," Joan interrupted.

"Hi Auggie," she began.

"Hi Joan, how's the baby?"

"He's fine, thanks. Look, I know how much you loved Annie…."

"Still do," he interrupted looking hurt.

"Of course, and if she is out there you would want her brought in safely right. Keeping secrets will just get her hurt," Joan led him down the path.

"She can't be hurt worse than she was Joan, she's dead," actual tears formed in his eyes and Joan was impressed by his commitment to the cover.

"If that is true I am sorry. If it isn't true I am also sorry because we have agents all over the globe looking for her right this second, and they might not be as understanding as I am right now. They'll kill her Auggie, for real this time," Joan finished and turned and walked out of the room.

"If she comes in willingly and you two explain yourselves there is no reason this can't end pleasantly," the first guy said with no hint of sympathy.

Auggie stared at his hands until the three of them left.

Several hours later Barber entered the room cautiously.

"Hey man, I brought you some food," he said as if they hadn't been apart for over a year.

"Thanks," Auggie looked up.

"We're clear," Barber said indicating the surveillance in the room was off.

"Did they buy it?" Auggie asked quickly.

"No, they think she's out here somewhere. If Calder and Henry still have moles in the building the word is out. They're going top let you go in the morning hoping you'll contact her," Barber reported.

"I hate using Annie as bait," Auggie sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"She's prepared," Barber assured him.

***555***

In Wichita Annie was doing push-ups and missing Auggie.

TBC…


	12. Chapter 12

Escape Clause Part 12

The trio of Joan, Hollman and unnamed sketchy guy came back after Barber had left Auggie alone with his dinner.

"We've secured a place for you to stay, assuming you didn't keep up your rent all this time," Joan offered knowing full well the apartment was gone.

"Here are your personal effects and Hollman here will escort you to the hotel and make sure you stay there," sketchy guy said and Auggie missed the look he gave Hollman.

"Why did you come back?" the guy asked suddenly.

"For this," Auggie felt around for the envelope from the bank and slipped out a life insurance policy.

The policy was in Annie's name and left everything to Auggie.

"I never wanted to cash it in, but money is getting a little tight," he shrugged.

Sketchy guy must have bought it as he just grunted and walked away.

"Can you come with me?" Hollman asked quietly.

"Yeah," Auggie stood his legs stiff from sitting for so long.

"Get some sleep, we'll talk again tomorrow," Joan said her bit and left.

Hollman brushed Auggie's arm and Auggie took his lead. They were quiet until they got in the car.

"They bugged your phone," Hollman whispered as he leaned across Auggie to lock the door.

Auggie just nodded, that was what they were hoping for.

***555***

The hotel room was small and smelled clean. Hollman got Auggie some beer and some snacks and left him alone, keeping guard outside. As soon as he was outside the room Auggie dialied Annie's burner phone.

"Hello," she answered.

"Hey, it's me, you need to relocate," he sounded urgent but she knew which phone he was using and knew it was part of the play.

"OK," she replied.

"Use the place in Whistler, the States are too hot."

"Are you OK? Maybe I should just come back to DC," she wanted to give them enough voice recognition.

"I'll be fine, just go I'll see you as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you too," and she hung up.

Annie flopped back on the bed in Wichita and hoped it worked. She had a flight to Vancouver scheduled for the next day under a fake name. She took out the untraceable cell and dialed another number.

"Hello," a woman answered.

"It's me, can I talk to her?" Annie asked quietly.

"Sure."

"Annie?"

"Danielle, are you OK?"

"Yes, your friend arrived earlier, she said the right things, I let her in," Danielle sounded flustered.

"It's OK, she's a good person, she's going to help you. This is almost over. She's going to take you and the girls and Michael if he is in town on a little road trip. You will end up in DC in a few days, this will be over by then."

"Will you be in DC when we get there?"

"Auggie is there now and if all goes according to plan I will be there as well," Annie promised as much as she could.

"Are you in danger?"

"A little bit, but we have a plan, it's Auggie's plan so I know it will work," Annie laughed.

"Then I will see you in a few days, be safe."

"You too, love you."

Danielle said her good-byes and handed the phone back.

"We'll be fine," the woman said.

"Thank you Reva, you have no idea how grateful I am," Annie sighed.

"I owe you and Auggie my life, it's the least I could do.'

"Uh huh and that crush on Eric Barber had nothing to do with this?"

"Girl, you have been gone awhile it is more than a crush now," Reva teased.

***555***

Neither Annie or Auggie was sleeping well apart. At 4:00 am he opened the hotel room door to find Hollman reading a newspaper, Auggie wasn't sure if it was today's yet or just yesterday's.

"Any chance I can go to the gym?"

Hollman took in his shorts, sneakers and tee shirt and shrugged.

"Sure," he stood happy for a change of scenery.

Auggie worked out more than his body, he replayed the plan over and over in his mind. He figured wherever Calder was it would take him almost a day to get up to Whistler British Columbia giving Annie time to get settled and have home field advantage. Joan had sent an elite undercover team to help her and Annie would liaise with them in Vancouver upon her arrival.

Auggie's job was just to keep himself out of jail, keep talking and keep slipping information to the moles at Langley. Joan was fairly certain it was a limited number of people at this point, but one or two might be higher up than anyone realized.

Auggie showered and dressed after the work out, feeling better than he had since landing in DC. He found his discarded clothes from the day before and tore open the pocket lining to reveal his own untraceable phone. It was supposed to be for emergencies only, but he couldn't let her go into this without talking to her one more time.

"Hello," she answered softly.

"Everything is fine, just wanted to really talk to you for a minute," he sat on the bathroom floor with the shower still running hoping even Hollman couldn't hear him.

"I had the phone in my hand to call you," she laughed.

"We've become those annoying people who can't go a couple days without talking," he smiled.

"I love you," she just wanted that out there.

"I love you too," he leaned his head back against the wall.

"I talked to Danielle."

"Good, Reva has this number too so don't give them a second thought, stay focused on you, I will take care of the family," Auggie assured and Annie noticed he didn't refer to Danielle and the girls as her family, they were a family now.

"I know," her voice was shaky with adrenaline.

"If you need something to focus on, if things are tense or hard, just remember you haven't finished teaching me how to knit," he teased.

"Yes, of all the things we have left to accomplish in our life, you making a Doctor Who scarf is tops on my bucket list," she laughed and sounded more like herself, so Auggie figured he said the right thing.

"Go get 'em Walker," he grinned.

TBC…


	13. Chapter 13

Escape Clause Part 13

Refreshed from the workout, the shower and hearing Annie's voice, Auggie had a spring in his step despite very little sleep. Another SUV picked up Auggie and Hollman and transported them back to Langley as Annie made her way to the airport in Kansas.

Instead of an interrogation room though, Auggie was brought to Joan's office where Joan handed him a folder.

"Auggie, I wanted to chat a bit about the past year, I thought this would be more comfortable for you, we go way back you and I and I really want to understand what has been going on," Joan started and watched as Auggie ran his fingers over the Braille document inside.

The document read:

"I am certain they are listening to this office, no matter how many times I have it swept it is too dangerous to speak. Markham, the other guy in interrogation, was listening to your phone last night. He came to me this morning and said Annie was headed to Mexico.

I know that is wrong which means Markham is working for Calder and likely does not suspect I am looped in. I have dispatched a team to Mexico, hoping this isn't an ambush, and updated the team in Vancouver.

You are doing great, just keep giving them enough to stay interested.

And Auggie, it is really good to see you. Joan."

Auggie had been talking as he read and as he got to the end he smiled broadly at Joan.

***555***

Annie sipped some orange juice and tried to flip through a magazine on the flight to Vancouver. Talking to Auggie had definitely made her feel better, as it always had on every mission she had ever been on since day one at the agency. She closed the magazine and her eyes and she saw him, flashes of his smile, the sight of his tanned tattooed back, his long dexterous fingers moving over a keyboard or her body. He was always with her. Before she deplaned in Vancouver, Annie slipped off her rings, the simple band and the stunning diamond, and strung them on a long chain under her clothes.

The encrypted email she had received from Joan told her to look for a woman in a Seattle Mariners cap and a blue Birkin bag, women really did make very good spies. Annie spotted her right away and boarded the same rental car shuttle as her.

"Here you are Ms. Lincoln," the woman behind the counter slid the rental car agreement across the desk and Annie smiled.

"Thank you," Annie signed the agreement and took back her fake credit card.

The agent Annie had spotted earlier was reading a newspaper and surreptitiously followed Annie out to the lot. Once Annie stowed her small suitcase in the trunk the woman brushed passed her placing a tracker on the car and one on Annie herself, so Joan and Auggie would know where she was at all times and the team on the ground could follow her easily.

Annie plugged an address into the GPS and headed up the gorgeous road to Whistler, mountains on one side and ocean on the other, she tried to appreciate the view as she anticipated what was going to unfold over the next couple days.

***555***

"Anderson, you are wasting our time," Markham exhaled loudly.

"You asked me about my relationship with Annie. I was telling you about the time she made me walk barefoot through a morgue, if that doesn't scream true love I don't know what you are looking for," Auggie held up his hands in surrender.

"I really only care about the past year, things that happened in 2010 are of no interest to me."

"Well for the past year my relationship with Annie has been all in my head, memories of a woman I loved very much," Auggie tinged his voice with sorrow.

"That is bullshit!"

"Are you doubting my love for her," Auggie stood menacingly.

"No, I am doubting she's dead, you talked to her last night!" the guy exploded.

Auggie flinched in character.

"Yes, Mr. Anderson we bugged your phone. I can't believe you didn't see that coming, no offense," the guy actually laughed at his own blind joke.

"What are you saying?" Auggie said sullenly.

"He's saying we know Annie is on her way to Mexico," Joan informed.

Auggie had to fight the smile he wanted to display. This game was on!

***555***

Annie arrived at the hotel in Whistler and checked in easily. Everything had gone according to plan so far, she crossed the lobby and sucked in a huge breath as she nearly ran right into Calder Michaels.

"What are you doing here?" the shock was real, although she expected him to find her she had no idea he would beat her there.

"Well, well, well, Annie Walker, not so dead after all," Calder said coolly.

"What are you doing here?"

"You and Anderson never could keep quiet. Your little phone chat last night was intercepted," he shook his head as if they should know better.

"Whistler is pretty far out of the way, how did you get here so fast?" Annie's mind was racing, he was just in Niue a few days ago.

"I made a little trip to Northern California after I found your love nest on that sad excuse for a resort island. Thought your sister might know a little more, funny thing she was long gone, but I found a note pad by the phone," he produced a note pad with a pencil rubbing on it, with the name of this hotel chain.

"What do you want Calder, you know why I killed Seth Newman now, the cat is out of the bag," Annie sighed and tried to look bored by the whole exchange.

"You and Anderson have been flaunting your immunity to anything even remotely resembling rules since day 1 together. I am here to teach you a lesson about protocol and waiting your turn, about respecting your elders," Calder approached, his words calm and quiet but his eyes angry.

"And by my elders you mean Henry?" she cocked her head and smiled sweetly.

"You made a huge mistake running from Henry in the middle of your deal," Calder clucked his tongue like her grandmother.

"My intel informs that Henry is back in Federal Prison rotting, right where he belongs, where he should have stayed in the first place," Annie examined a ragged nail on one hand.

"I don't want to get into this here Miss Walker, too many eyes, how about we go for a walk?" Calder suggested and slid his coat back far enough to reveal a weapon.

TBC…


	14. Chapter 14

Escape Clause Part 14

Annie didn't want to make a scene in a hotel lobby and she certainly didn't want any innocent bystanders hurt so she nodded to Calder that she would go with him. He took her arm harshly in exactly the same spot Auggie always clasped in sighted lead. She could not believe how different the sensation was with Calder's cold fingers digging into her flesh, she shuddered.

"You should be afraid Miss Walker," he whispered menacingly, "now let's go."

Annie walked out the side entrance and turned toward the parking lot.

"No car, too easy to track. I said I wanted to take a walk, and I meant it," he indicated the trails that ran down into the valley from their spot on the side of a mountain.

"There are bears in the woods," Annie mentioned, "it is cub season."

"Bears should be the least of your concerns Walker," Calder shoved her a little to get her moving.

***555***

"Excuse me, Joan, could I have a word," Eric Barber popped his head into the interrogation room.

Markham rolled his eyes as Joan exited the room.

"Annie is moving," Barber whispered, "and not by car."

"She's supposed to stay put until we talk tonight," Joan whispered back.

"I know, that is why I interrupted," Barber cringed.

"Can you piggyback on a satellite without raising any red flags around here?"

"Not as fast as Auggie," Barber admitted.

"He's been out of the loop for over a year," Joan pointed out.

"This is Auggie we're talking about," Barber laughed.

"Right," Joan smiled.

"It would be safer with him at the wheel."

"Gather the tech you need and take it to the subbasement Room S432, we can work there," Joan instructed.

Barber nodded and scurried off.

Joan re-entered the interrogation room to hear Auggie say, "If you know all the answers, why are you asking me the questions?" in a measured tone certain to drive Markham through the roof.

"OK, we are done here. We have a lead on Walker and clearly Anderson isn't going to give us anything further. We can use him further when Walker is in custody. Markham, go check on the team," Joan ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.

"Nice guy," Auggie smiled after he was gone.

"You need to come with me," Joan's voice left no room for question.

***555***

Calder dragged Annie down a rocky path towards a covered bridge. The river rushed by and Annie squinted against the harsh sunlight. It was warmer than she expected and she was sweating under her suit coat, but she couldn't risk taking it off, it had the tracker on it.

"I can't believe Auggie let you out of his sight, oops, I mean reach," Calder snarled.

Annie just glared.

"I found your little hideaway, very cute, the bed was still warm when I got there," he taunted.

"You were always a little too interested in our sex life, something you want to share Calder? I mean Auggie is a very attractive man, I wouldn't blame you for …"

"Enough Walker, I could care less about you or your boyfriend, you know what I want," Calder pulled the weapon now.

"He's my husband," she said to distract him.

"Not according to any US court, I had a trace on you all year."

"In every way that counts," Annie was trying to buy time.

"Well that's sweet, but as I said I could care less, I want the last piece of evidence you two have and I want it now," he pointed the gun at her heart.

***555***

"This Chinese satellite isn't good for much, but it happens to be in a good spot. I think they are using it to record baseball stats," Auggie rambled as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Told you he was the right man for the job," Barber looked at Joan.

"OK, it is picking up Annie's tracker, what do you see?" Auggie asked.

"Woods, a covered bridge and a river, some bears," Barber reported back.

"Go thermal," Auggie instructed and switched over to heat signature identification.

"Two bodies under the covered bridge, one must be Annie it is the exact geo-location of the tracker," Barber reported.

"Is Calder there already?" Joan asked.

"Oh God, Danielle," Auggie ran his hands over his face.

"She's fine, I talked to Reva an hour ago. If Michaels was in San Fran looking for her, he missed them," Barber put the geographic puzzle together in his head.

"Thank God," Auggie sighed.

"They are already through the Rockies, they'll be here in 2 days," Barber assured.

Auggie nodded.

"Still doesn't explain how Calder found her so quickly," Joan wondered.

"Whistler is remote, not a ton of places to look," Auggie shrugged.

"The team is nearby, Annie is safe, she can signal for them at any time, we have to trust her," Joan patted Auggie on the shoulder.

***555***

Annie was just about to tap the transmitter for the team to approach, but she was curious what Calder was talking about.

"What evidence are you referring to Calder? We left everything in DC, the flash drive was in Tech Ops, they recovered everything there was," she shook her head.

"That's not true and you know it," Calder approached," there was a file missing from that flash drive, you must have kept it as leverage."

"To what end, Auggie and I were not planning on coming back," she wanted to keep him talking.

"Insurance, in case you were caught, like you are right now," he advanced on her weapon drawn and Annie tapped the code for the team on the tracker.

Something moved in the woods to her left and her eyes flicked over there, luckily Calder's did too and in the split second he was not paying attention she kicked at his weapon, disarming him. He reacted quickly, advancing on her with speed and agility. The resulting hand-to-hand combat was intense and Annie had to channel her old muscle memory having been woefully negligent in keeping up her skills.

Calder elbowed her in the jaw, snapping her head back as she attempted to counter with a roundhouse. All she had to do was hold her own until the team arrived, but she was overmatched. He grabbed her by the throat and bent her back over the railing of the bridge.

"I could kill you now, or better yet, throw you over the edge for the bears, but I need to know where that last file is, the one that documents my agreement with Henry," Calder was practically growling at her.

Annie saw her advantage and pushed back against him, summoning all her strength to fight back.

"So Seth was your lawyer too, that guy really got around," Annie grimaced.

Suddenly the sound of several sets of footsteps came through loud and clear and Calder knew he was trapped, he made a last ditch effort to reach his discarded weapon, but Annie was quicker and kicked the gun off the bridge before he could reach it. Within seconds he was in custody and Annie was handed a phone.

***555***

"Annie?" Joan asked when her private cell rang.

"Calder is in custody. Joan, do you have Auggie's old laptop from the apartment?"

"Yes, in evidence somewhere," she responded.

"You might want to dig it up. Can I talk to him?"

"For you," Joan smiled and pressed the phone against Auggie's hand.

TBC…


	15. Chapter 15

Escape Clause Part 15/15

"Hey," Auggie said as he took the phone.

"Hey," she replied her eyes slipping shut.

"You hurt?" the word stuck in his throat.

"No, I'm fine. Auggie we need to dig through the data on your old laptop, the stuff from the flash drive, something is missing, something that can hurt Calder. That's the only reason he didn't kill me, he thought I had it," she quickly snapped into work mode.

"I'll get right on it. You're coming back here now, right?" he tried not to sound like he missed her desperately.

"Plane leaves in 2 hours," she smiled.

***555***

Joan had Markham rounded up and interrogated, he turned on 2 more moles still in Langley. She also recalled the team that had been sent after the false lead in Mexico, although they were having a good time sitting on the beach.

Auggie got his hands on his old laptop and pulled up all the data he had stored there from the investigation into Seth Newman's flash drive.

"This is the only thing I had before we left," Auggie brought up the tiny piece of jungle.

"We have that too," Hollman pondered, "we were finally able to break it and found a picture of Henry Wilcox and an ALC terrorist."

"Interesting," Auggie puzzled.

"What did we miss?" Barber asked.

"Once we saw the image we didn't do anything more with it except authenticate the server it was originally stored on," Hollman shrugged.

"Pixel by pixel guys, blow it up," Auggie instructed.

"It's like you never left," Barber laughed.

"Are you coming back?" Hollman asked.

"And are you going to tell us about the wedding ring?" Barber munched on a chip.

Auggie had forgotten the wedding ring was new to them, it was so a part of him now.

"Actually, when you are done here, I do want to talk about the ring," Auggie hinted.

***555***

It took 10 hours and finally Barber found it, a tiny document embedded in a pixel, an image within an image they had never expected. As he made his way out to the DPD bullpen Barber saw her for the first time in over a year. Annie Walker was striding down the hall like she never left.

"Auggie," she called and he turned with a serene smile on his face.

"Welcome back Walker," he held out an arm to her and she barreled into him.

His arms wrapped around her warmly, his broad hand cupping the back of her head pulling her closer. Barber had seen them hug before, generally after Walker was almost killed, but this was different, they seemed to melt into one another and just as he was about to break in the energy shifted and she pulled back and kissed him. Annie was kissing Auggie in the middle of the DPD.

Barber would have just stood there and watched if he didn't have such pressing business to report.

"Umm guys, sorry, but" he started quietly as others looked on as well.

"Uh Annie, welcome back," Barber tried again but his two friends seemed minutes from ripping each other's clothes off.

"Guys, seriously, need your attention," he spoke a little louder and it broke the spell.

Annie froze and Auggie took in a deep breath, resting his forehead against hers.

"Hi Eric," Annie finally regained her composure and turned to greet him with a smile.

"It is really good to see you," he smiled back.

"You have something?" Auggie asked with his traditional level of impatience with Barber.

He handed the document over to Annie who began reading it silently.

"What is it?" Auggie asked now impatient with everyone.

"Calder was working for Henry from day 1, black ops, off the books assassinations, his position in Medellin was not a stepping stone it was long term surveillance of Teo. It is all here," Annie smiled broadly.

"Let's bring it to Joan," Auggie smiled.

The pair turned in perfect harmony as always, Auggie's hand at Annie's elbow and began to move away.

"Barber, you found it, you get to come too," Auggie turned back when the big guy didn't follow.

"Really?"

"Of course, we couldn't have even considered coming out of the shadows if you hadn't worked so hard this past year, you deserve a lot of credit," Auggie said sincerely.

"Come on boys, let's get this wrapped up."

***555***

It took a few more hours and Joan pulled some old case work and tied a few things together, but it was in the hands of a special prosecutor by 11:00 pm.

"You guys should get some rest," Joan noted as Annie yawned and dismissed them all.

"We'll see you tomorrow?" Auggie asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," Joan smiled cryptically at Annie and went back to work.

A car brought Auggie and Annie back to the hotel Auggie had slept in the night before, without Hollman guarding the door this time, and left them. They found dinner waiting for them and some wine but Annie wanted nothing more than Auggie.

"I missed you so much," she admitted as she worked on his buttons.

"Me too, I really didn't like sleeping alone," he agreed as he slipped her blouse from her shoulders.

His hands roamed over her, looking for tender spots. She winced when he got to one particular bruise on her back.

"He hurt you," he accused his eyes bright with anger.

"I'm fine," she assured him and took control, showing him exactly how fine she was.

Her hands slipped into his and he stopped kissing her.

"Where are your rings," he slid his hand over her bare fingers.

"Right here," she leaned down so the chain around her neck trailed along his chest.

He lifted the chain over her head and placed them on the bedside table before capturing her mouth again.

"Wow, we had gotten lazy," Auggie teased when they were done.

"That was pretty good," Annie smiled against his chest.

"Pretty good? I think we need to review," he laughed and rolled her back under him.

They finally emerged from the bed in the middle of the night and ate their cold dinner.

"Danielle and the girls should arrive around noon tomorrow," Auggie mentioned around a mouthful of cold pasta.

"I can't wait to see them, the girls must be so big," Annie smiled and sipped her wine.

"I was wondering if you have any plans tomorrow afternoon," Auggie said casually.

"Ummm, no," Annie was confused.

"Wanna get married? For real?" he offered and held up the diamond he had snatched off the bedside table.

"Yes," she answered simply and leaned over to give him a kiss.

***555***

Auggie had, of course, arranged everything and called in a few favors. They stopped at Saks in the morning and picked out some new clothes, wearing them right out of the store. Annie stopped at a florist and grabbed a few flowers and around 2:00 pm they entered the Courthouse.

"Annie!" a chorus of little voices rang out and plowed towards the pair.

"Hi guys," Annie fought the tears in the back of her throat, "I am so glad to see you."

She kneeled down to kiss her nieces as greetings were exchanged. In additional to Danielle and the girls, Reva and Barber were there and Joan holding little Jacob.

"He's beautiful," Annie smiled at the little boy and stroked his soft hair.

"Thank you, congratulations," Joan kissed Annie on the cheek.

"Anderson?" the clerk announced.

"Here," Annie and Auggie answered in unison.

The End


End file.
